Measuring error in signal under test (sut) using multiple channel measurement device

ABSTRACT

A method measures a characteristic of a SUT using a signal measurement device having multiple input channels. The method includes digitizing first and second copies of the SUT in first and second input channels to obtain first and second digitized waveforms; repeatedly determining measurement values of the SUT characteristic in the first and second digitized waveforms to obtain first and second measurement values, respectively, each second measurement value being paired with a first measurement value to obtain measurement value pairs; multiplying the first and second measurement values in each of the measurement value pairs to obtain measurement products; determining a mean-squared value (MSV) of the SUT characteristic measurement; and determining a square root of the MSV to obtain a root-mean-squared (RMS) value of the measured SUT characteristic, which substantially omits variations not in the SUT, which are introduced by only one of the first or second input channel.

BACKGROUND

An oscilloscope may be used to measure various characteristics of asignal under test (SUT), such as a radio frequency (RF) signal generatedby a device under test (DUT) or otherwise output DUT in response to astimulus signal. Examples of measurable SUT characteristics includefrequency, period, pulse width, rise time, voltage noise, phase noise,time jitter, and slew rate. However, sensitivity of the measurements maybe limited by measurement errors (noise) introduced by input channels ofthe oscilloscope used to receive the SUT. The measurement errorsgenerally result from various types of vertical and horizontal (timing)errors, including random voltage noise, additive periodic voltage error,random time jitter, and additive periodic time jitter, for example. Whenmeasuring SUT characteristics received through multiple oscilloscopechannels, some of the measurement errors introduced by each channelinclude errors that are un-correlated to the SUT and uncorrelated to theother channel. These uncorrelated measurement errors remain in the SUT,and therefore affect accuracy of measurement and/or display of the SUTcharacteristics.

Accordingly, oscilloscopes are not usually used for making various typesof measurements of various SUT characteristics, such as phase noise.Generally, variations in the SUT cannot be distinguished from variationscaused by measurement errors introduced by the oscilloscope channelswhen measuring the SUT characteristics. Rather, spectrum analyzers aremore likely used to measure phase noise, for example, although somespectrum analyzers can only discriminate phase noise from amplitudenoise over a limited frequency offset range. Also, many spectrumanalyzers simply measure total single-sideband noise adjacent to the RFcarrier. Other systems used to measure phase noise of an RF signalinclude dedicated phase noise measurement systems, such as E5500 SeriesPhase Noise Measurement Solutions available from Keysight Technologies,Inc., and signal source analyzers, such as E5052B Signal Source Analyzeravailable from Keysight Technologies, Inc. These measurement systems useheterodyning to demodulate phase in the frequency domain, have lowmeasurement error floor, and are relatively fast. However, suchmeasurement systems cannot measure data-type signals or spread-spectrumclocking-type signals, and are generally limited to a maximum offsetfrequency of 100 MHz.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The representative embodiments are best understood from the followingdetailed description when read with the accompanying drawing figures.Wherever applicable and practical, like reference numerals refer to likeelements.

FIG. 1A is a simplified block diagram of a system for testing a signalunder test (SUT) using a signal measurement device having multiple inputchannels, according to a representative embodiment.

FIG. 1B is a simplified block diagram of a system for testing a SUTusing a signal measurement device having multiple input channelsincluding measurement probes, according to a representative embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a simplified flow diagram showing a method of testing a SUTusing a signal measurement device having multiple input channels,according to a representative embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a simplified flow diagram showing a method of testing a SUTusing a signal measurement device having multiple input channels,according to a representative embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a simplified flow diagram showing a method of testing a SUTusing a signal measurement device having multiple input channels,according to a representative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation andnot limitation, illustrative embodiments disclosing specific details areset forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodimentsaccording to the present teachings. However, it will be apparent to onehaving had the benefit of the present disclosure that other embodimentsaccording to the present teachings that depart from the specific detailsdisclosed herein remain within the scope of the appended claims.Moreover, descriptions of well-known devices and methods may be omittedso as not to obscure the description of the example embodiments. Suchmethods and devices are within the scope of the present teachings.

Generally, it is understood that as used in the specification andappended claims, the terms “a”, “an” and “the” include both singular andplural referents, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus,for example, “a device” includes one device and plural devices.

As used in the specification and appended claims, and in addition totheir ordinary meanings, the terms “substantial” or “substantially” meanto within acceptable limits or degree. For example, “substantiallycancelled” means that one skilled in the art would consider thecancellation to be acceptable. As a further example, “substantiallyremoved” means that one skilled in the art would consider the removal tobe acceptable. As used in the specification and the appended claims andin addition to its ordinary meaning, the term “approximately” means towithin an acceptable limit or amount to one having ordinary skill in theart. For example, “approximately the same” means that one of ordinaryskill in the art would consider the items being compared to be the same.

Various representative embodiments of the disclosure generally provide asystem and a method to measure one or more characteristics of a signalunder test (SUT) output by a device under test (DUT) using a measurementsystem, such as an oscilloscope including a digital signal processor(DSP), having multiple channels for receiving copies of the SUT. Theembodiments provide low noise and distortion measurements, for example,on data and spread-spectrum clocking (SSC) signals performed usingmultiple channels of oscilloscope(s). Also, the maximum offset frequencyrange is extended beyond 100 MHz, up to about one half of the carrierfrequency for phase noise measurements. As additional examples, theembodiments may measure signals that have been arbitrarily digitallyfiltered, may compute integrated phase jitter after applying arbitrarydigital filtering, and may remove SSC phase modulation from a measuredclock prior to integrating phase jitter.

According to a representative embodiment, a method is provided formeasuring a characteristic of a SUT output by a DUT using a signalmeasurement device having multiple input channels. The method includesreceiving the SUT, digitizing a first copy of the SUT in a first inputchannel to obtain one or more first digitized waveforms, digitizing asecond copy of the SUT in a second input channel to obtain one or moresecond digitized waveforms, repeatedly determining measurement values ofthe SUT characteristic in the first digitized waveforms to obtainmultiple first measurement values, repeatedly determining secondmeasurement values of the SUT characteristic in the second digitizedwaveforms to obtain multiple second measurement values, where eachsecond measurement value being is paired with a first measurement value,respectively, to obtain measurement value pairs. The method furtherincludes multiplying the first measurement value and the secondmeasurement value in each of the measurement value pairs to obtainmeasurement products, determining an average value of the measurementproducts to obtain a mean-squared value (MSV) of the measured SUTcharacteristic, and determining a square root of the MSV to obtain aroot-mean-squared (RMS) value of the measured SUT characteristic. TheRMS value of the measured SUT characteristic includes variations in theSUT that are in both the first and second input channels, andsubstantially omits variations not in the SUT, which are introduced byonly one of the first input channel or the second input channel as aresult of respective measurement errors.

According to another representative embodiment, a method is provided formeasuring a characteristic of a SUT output by a DUT using a signalmeasurement device having a multiple input channels. The method includesreceiving the SUT, digitizing a first copy of the SUT in a first inputchannel to obtain one or more first digitized waveforms, digitizing asecond copy of the SUT in a second input channel to obtain one or moresecond digitized waveforms, repeatedly determining a first measurementtrend to obtain multiple first measurement trends, each firstmeasurement trend corresponding to multiple measurements of the SUTcharacteristic in the one or more first digitized waveforms,respectively, and repeatedly determining a second measurement trend toobtain multiple measurement trends, each second measurement trendcorresponding to multiple measurements of the SUT characteristic in theone or more second digitized waveforms, respectively. Each secondmeasurement trend is paired with a first measurement trend,respectively, to obtain multiple measurement trend pairs. The methodfurther includes cross-correlating the first measurement trend and thesecond measurement trend in each of the measurement trend pairs toobtain cross-correlation vectors, extracting zero-displacement valuesfrom the cross-correlation vectors, respectively, where extracting thezero-displacement values includes identifying a value from eachcross-correlation vector that was obtained using zero skew between thefirst measurement trend and the second measurement trend in themeasurement trend pair, and discarding all other values from othercross-correlation vectors. The method further includes summing thezero-displacement values of the cross-correlation vectors to obtain asum of measurement products for the measurement trend pairs, dividingthe sum of zero-displacement values by a total number of measurementproducts of the plurality of cross-correlation vectors to obtain anaverage value of the measurement products, which corresponds to a MSV ofthe measured SUT characteristic, and determining a square root of theaverage value of the MSV to obtain a RMS value of the measured SUTcharacteristic. The RMS value includes variations in the SUT, which isin both the first and second channels, and substantially omitsun-correlated variations not in the SUT, which is introduced by only oneof the first channel or the second channel.

According to another representative embodiment, a method is provided formeasuring a characteristic of a SUT output by a DUT using a signalmeasurement device having multiple input channels. The method includesreceiving the SUT, digitizing a first copy of the SUT in a first inputchannel to obtain one or more first digitized waveforms, digitizing asecond copy of the SUT in a second input channel to obtain one or moresecond digitized waveforms; repeatedly determining a first measurementtrend to obtain multiple first measurement trends, each firstmeasurement trend corresponding to multiple measurements of the SUTcharacteristic in each first digitized waveform, respectively;, andrepeatedly determining a second measurement trend to obtain multiplesecond measurement trends, each second measurement trend correspondingto multiple measurements of the SUT characteristic in each seconddigitized waveform, respectively. Each second measurement trend ispaired with a first measurement trend, respectively, to obtain multiplemeasurement trend pairs. The method further includes performing adiscrete Fourier transform (DFT) on the first measurement trend and thesecond measurement trend in each of the measurement trend pairs toobtain corresponding first and second measurement amplitude spectrumsfor each of the measurement trend pairs, cross-correlating the firstmeasurement amplitude spectrum and the second measurement amplitudespectrum in each of the measurement trend pairs to obtain measurementpower spectrums, and averaging the measurement power spectrums to obtainan average measurement power spectrum of the SUT, which is in both thefirst and second channels, and substantially omitting measurement errorsnot in the SUT, which are introduced by only one of the first channel orthe second channel.

In the conventional methods, any measurement error (e.g., noise and/orjitter) attributable to the oscilloscope's digitizing process in the twodigitizing channels adds directly to the measurement result, and cannotbe distinguished from variations in the SUT. However, usingcross-correlation according to the various embodiments, only the SUTcharacteristics and associated variations in the SUT that are correlatedacross both digitizing channels (including SUT characteristicscorresponding to the various types of measurement errors and/or thevariations themselves) remain in the measurement result, since they areattributable to the actual SUT (appearing in both copies). Over multipleiterations, the measurement errors that are uncorrelated across the twodigitizing channels average to zero, leaving only characteristicsattributable to the SUT.

Examples of a SUT characteristic to be measured using an oscilloscopeare time-interval error (TIE) jitter, which is a measure of edge timeerror, and phase noise. Conventional TIE jitter measurements can beperformed in a variety of ways, but are commonly performed inoscilloscopes by locating times corresponding to all threshold crossingsof edges of a digitized SUT waveform that has been received by theoscilloscope, then determining the difference between those measurededge times and the ideal (error-free) times of those edges. The idealedge times may be determined, for example, using a best-fit linear modelof the edge times, in order to represent a constant frequency clock.Alternatively, the ideal edge times may be determined using aphase-locked loop emulation algorithm, for example. The ideal edge timesmay even be received by the oscilloscope on another independent inputchannel. The TIE jitter measurement produces a set of edge time errorvalues, collected from a single digitized SUT waveform or from multipleSUT waveforms. The standard deviation of the edge time error values dueto variations in the SUT may be determined and reported in seconds rootmean squared (RMS).

In comparison, the disclosed embodiments related to measuring TIE jitter(as well as measuring phase noise) operate on two copies of the SUT. Thecopies of the SUT are digitized, without demodulation using heterodyningtechniques, by two independent oscilloscope input channels,respectively. Once digitized, TIE measurement values of the SUT copiesare determined in pairs, with one TIE measurement value of each paircomputed from each SUT copy. A product of the TIE measurement values ineach pair is determined, and the average of the products of the pairs isthen calculated. The average provides an estimate of variance ormean-squared value (MSV) of the TIE jitter. Taking the square root ofthe MSV results in the standard deviation or root-mean-squared (RMS)value of the TIE jitter.

TIE measurement values may be obtained, stored and reported assequential time vectors, or TIE trends. In this case, the disclosedembodiments operate on pairs of TIE trends, where one TIE trend of eachTIE trend pair is determined from each SUT copy. The TIE trends in eachpair are cross-correlated with one another to obtain a correspondingcross-correlation vector. Zero-displacement values are extracted fromthe cross-correlation vectors, respectively, using zero-displacement(τ=0) between the TIE trends in the respective pairs. The extractedzero-displacement values are added to obtain a sum of measurementproducts for the measurement trend pairs. Dividing the sum of themeasurement products by the total number of elements in all the TIEtrends in all the pairs is equivalent to computing the variance of theTIE jitter of the SUT, so the standard deviation of the TIE jitter inseconds RMS may be determined by taking the square-root of this variancevalue. Although the illustrative embodiments improve sensitivity andaccuracy of TIE jitter and phase jitter measurements, for example, theyapply to various other types of measurement error, without departingfrom the scope of the present teachings.

The extent of improvement to the SUT from the cross-correlation depends,in part, on the number of edges in a digitized waveform of the SUTincluded in the calculation. More edges provide better oscilloscopejitter and noise reduction. Increasing the time range of eachacquisition and the accumulating edges from multiple acquisitions,increases the number of edges analyzed. When using two channels of anoscilloscope, the embodiments reduce the uncorrelated noise introducedby each channel. The embodiments may also reduce low-frequency jitter,for example, introduced by timebase clocks, whenever independenttimebase clocks are used to control the two channels, respectively. Thatis, the low-frequency jitter contributed by the oscilloscope is normallycorrelated across the two channels when the channels share the sametimebase clock (of the oscilloscope), so the low-frequency jitterintroduced by the clock would be correlated and thus would not bereduced by the embodiments. However, if the two inputs of the channelsare on two different oscilloscope frames of a multiscope system, withindependent timebase clocks, then most of the low frequency jitter wouldlikewise be reduced by the embodiments. More than two channels of one ormore oscilloscopes may be used, as well, which increases the number ofcorrelations.

The embodiments may be implemented on SSC signals, for example, asmentioned above, because phase demodulation is performed using edgefinding, e.g., by a DSP, instead of heterodyning. The use of edgefinding also enables the embodiments to work on data-type signals. Also,the embodiments may be incorporated into existing random jitter (RJ)and/or deterministic jitter (DJ) separation and total jitter (TJ)extrapolation algorithms to improve their measurement accuracy andsensitivity.

In more complex embodiments, digital waveforms are converted to thefrequency domain using discrete Fourier transform (DFT) techniques, asdiscussed below with reference to FIG. 4. The resulting jitter spectrum(JS) may be presented as is, or converted into a phase noise (PN)measurement result. Thus, according to various embodiments, thecross-correlation may be performed in the time-domain, discussed above,or in the frequency-domain. Also, there are computational speedadvantages to dividing the full offset frequency range of the JS or PNmeasurement into smaller segments, and decimating the digitizedwaveforms by different amounts for each segment. When measuringdata-type signals, missing edges need to be interpolated over to producea uniformly sampled digitized waveform prior to conversion to thefrequency domain. Also, data-dependent jitter (DDJ) should be removedfrom the digitized signals. The computations of the various embodimentsmay be implemented using DSP hardware and/or firmware in order toincrease computational speed.

FIG. 1A is a simplified block diagram of a system for measuringcharacteristics of a SUT using a signal measurement device havingmultiple input channels, according to a representative embodiment.Examples of characteristics that may be measured include phase noise,jitter (e.g., time jitter, TIE jitter, random jitter, deterministicjitter, period-to-period jitter, total jitter), frequency, period, pulsewidth, rise time, voltage noise, and slew rate, although other SUTcharacteristics may be measured according to various embodiments,without departing from the scope of the present teachings. Moreparticularly, measuring characteristics of the SUT includessubstantially removing measurement error introduced by the multipleinput channels, respectively, receiving copies of the SUT. Themeasurement error may result from additive errors, including verticaland horizontal (timing) errors, added to the SUT during transmissionthrough the input channels. Measuring a characteristic of the SUTincludes measuring the effects of variations in the SUT on the SUTcharacteristic, although in some instances (e.g., when measuring typesof jitter), the variations in the SUT make up the measured SUTcharacteristic itself.

Some measurement error introduced by the signal measurement device iscorrelated across the two input channels (referred to as correlatedmeasurement error) and other measurement error is uncorrelated acrossthe two channels (referred to as uncorrelated measurement error). Thecorrelated measurement error originates from common source, such as acommon timebase clock, for example, while the uncorrelated measurementerror originates in only one input channel, and not in the other inputchannel. The SUT variation we desire to include in the measurement iscorrelated across the two input channels because the single input SUT ismeasured by both input channels.

Referring to FIG. 1A, test system 100 may be an oscilloscope, forexample, having multiple input channels, indicated by representativefirst input channel 110 and second input channel 120. As mentionedabove, more than two input channels may be incorporated, increasing anumber of correlations, without departing from the scope of the presentteachings. The first input channel 110 includes first amplifier 112 andfirst analog to digital converter (ADC) 114, and the second inputchannel 120 includes second amplifier 122 and second ADC 124. The testsystem 100 receives a SUT output by a DUT (e.g., DUT 160 shown in FIG.1B), where the SUT may be generated by the DUT or output in response toa stimulus signal received by the DUT.

The first input channel 110 receives and digitizes a first copy of theSUT using the first ADC 114 to obtain one or more first digitizedwaveforms, and the second input channel 120 receives and digitizes asecond copy of the SUT using the second ADC 124 to obtain one or moresecond digitized waveforms. The first and second ADC 114 and 124 may besynchronized using time base 105. Also, the timing of the copies of theSUT may be associated using the time base 105, in part, so that portionsof the copies are properly matched during processing. When the SUT is asingle-ended signal, the first and second copies of the SUT may beobtained by splitting the SUT, e.g., using an RF splitter or diplexer(not shown). Alternatively, when the SUT is a differential signal, thefirst and second copies of the SUT, respectively digitized in the firstand second input channels 110 and 120, may correspond to inverted andnon-inverted sides of the differential signal. The test system 100 isused to measure at least one characteristic of the SUT, where themeasured characteristic includes relevant variations in the SUT.

However, as discussed above, each of the first input channel 110 and thesecond input channel 120 introduces measurement error in the first copyand the second copy of the SUT, respectively. The measurement errorintroduced by the first input channel 110 includes at least additiveerrors (e.g., vertical and horizontal errors) from at least the firstamplifier 112 and the first ADC 114 processing the first copy of theSUT, and the measurement error introduced by the second input channel120 includes at least additive errors from at least the second amplifier122 and the second ADC 124 processing the second copy of the SUT. Themeasurement errors cause additional variations that affect the SUTcharacteristic being measured.

The test system 100 further includes a DSP 130, which has a memorycontroller for communicating with first memory 131 and second memory132. The first memory 131 stores data collected from and/or relating tothe first copy of the SUT digitized by the first ADC 114, and the secondmemory 132 stores data collected from and/or relating to the second copyof the SUT digitized by the second ADC 124. The DSP 130 is programmed toperform various steps of the methods of testing a SUT, discussed belowwith reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, including removing measurement errorfrom the SUT, is introduced by the first and second input channels 110and 120, by cross-multiplying or performing cross-correlation of thefirst and second copies of the SUT. Measurement error that is specificto one or the other of the first and second input channels 110 and 120,and thus extraneous to the noise and variations in the SUT itself, isuncorrelated and can thus be separated out.

The DSP 130 is controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) 140, forexample. The CPU 140 is programed to format the output of the DSP 130for display on a display 150, which may by an oscilloscope display,thereby providing a display interface. The CPU 140 may also beprogrammed to provide a user interface, such as a graphical userinterface (GUI), between the test system 100 and a user, e.g., using thedisplay 150. As such, the test system 100 may receive input from theuser through any of various types of compatible input devices, such as akeyboard, a mouse, dials and/or a touch screen, for example, and displaymeasurement results in response.

Generally, each of the DSP 130 and the CPU 140 may be implemented by oneor more computer processors, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or combinationsthereof, using software, firmware, hard-wired logic circuits, orcombinations thereof. A computer processor, in particular, may beconstructed of any combination of hardware, firmware or softwarearchitectures, and may include its own memory (e.g., nonvolatile memory)for storing executable software/firmware executable code that allows itto perform the various functions. In an embodiment, the CPU 140, forexample, executes an operating system. Also one or both of the DSP 130and the CPU 140 may be implemented using a personal computer (PC), forexample.

Each of the first memory 131 and the second memory 132 may receive andstore time domain data and/or frequency domain data, as well asprocessing results (e.g., regarding cross-correlation and other signalprocessing). The first and second memories 131 and 132 may beimplemented by any number, type and combination of random access memory(RAM) and read-only memory (ROM), for example, and may store varioustypes of information, such as computer programs and software algorithmsexecutable by the DSP 130. The ROM and RAM may include any number, typeand combination of computer readable storage media, such as a diskdrive, disk storage, flash memory, electrically programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM), electrically erasable and programmable read only memory(EEPROM), a universal serial bus (USB) drive, a CD, a DVD, and the like,which are tangible and non-transitory storage media (e.g., as comparedto transitory propagating signals).

FIG. 1B is a simplified block diagram of the system for measuringcharacteristics of the SUT using a signal measurement device havingmultiple input channels and corresponding measurement probes, accordingto a representative embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1B, test system 100′ includes a first channel 110′ anda second channel 120′, as well as the other features depicted in thetest system 100. The first channel 110′ includes a first probe 115 and afirst probe amplifier 116, as well as the first amplifier 112 and thefirst ADC 114, where the first copy of the SUT is received via the firstprobe 115. Likewise, the second channel 120′ includes a second probe 125and a second probe amplifier 126, as well as the second amplifier 122and the second ADC 124, where the second copy of the SUT is received viathe second probe 125. Each of the first and second probes 115 and 125may be oscilloscope voltage probes, for example.

In this configuration, the measurement error that is introduced by onlythe first channel 110′ or the second channel 120′ also includes additiveerrors from the first and second probes 115 and 125, and the first andsecond probe amplifiers 116 and 126, respectively. That is, themeasurement error introduced by the first input channel 110 includesadditive errors from at least the first probe 115, the first probeamplifier 116, the first amplifier 112 and the first ADC 114, and themeasurement error introduced by the second input channel 120 includesadditive errors from at least the second probe 125, the second probeamplifier 126, the second amplifier 122 and the second ADC 124.Otherwise, the test system 100′ is substantially the same as the testsystem 100, discussed above.

FIG. 2 is a simplified flow diagram showing a method of testing a SUTusing a signal measurement device having multiple input channels,according to a representative embodiment. The testing may include, forexample, measuring a characteristic of the SUT output by a DUT whilesubstantially removing the measurement errors introduced by the multipleinput channels, respectively. The method shown in FIG. 2 generallyrelies on matching data from two copies of the SUT to form pairs ofmeasurement values each corresponding to a particular time. Theprocessing of the measurement values is performed on a set ofmeasurement pairs that are unrelated to the time and frequency domains.

Referring to FIG. 2, the method includes receiving the SUT output by theDUT at block S211, where the SUT may be an RF signal. In the depictedembodiment, two copies of the SUT are received via first and secondchannels of the signal measurement device as a first copy and a secondcopy, respectively. When the SUT is a single-ended RF signal, the firstand second copies of the SUT may be obtained using an RF splitter or adiplexer, for example. When the SUT is a differential signal, the firstand second two copies may be inverted and non-inverted portions of thedifferential signal, respectively.

The first copy is received by a first input channel of one or more testsystems (e.g., test system 100, 100′), and the second copy is receivedby a second input channel of the one or more test systems. For example,the first and second input channels may be part of a singleoscilloscope. Or, the first input channel may be part of a firstoscilloscope and the second input channel may be part of a secondoscilloscope, where the first and second oscilloscopes are synchronizedwith one another.

The first copy of the SUT is digitized (e.g., by first ADC 114) in thefirst input channel at block S212 to obtain one or more first digitizedwaveforms, and the second copy of the SUT is digitized (e.g., by secondADC 124) in the second input channel at block S213 to obtain one or moresecond digitized waveforms. A time base (e.g., time base 105) may beused to synchronize the timing of the first and second digitizedwaveforms so that the two copies of the SUT are digitized substantiallysimultaneously. The digitizing in blocks S212 and S213 is performed onthe copies of the SUT without heterodyning.

The first and second digitized waveforms are processed (e.g., by DSP130). The processing includes repeatedly determining measurement valuesof the SUT characteristic in the first digitized waveforms in block S214to obtain first measurement values, and repeatedly determiningmeasurement values of the SUT characteristic in the second digitizedwaveforms in block S215 to obtain second measurement values. Each of thedetermined second measurement values is paired with a corresponding oneof the determined first measurement values, respectively, to obtainmultiple measurement value pairs. The determination of the first andsecond measurement values in blocks S214 and S215 may be repeated untilall the available measurements from that acquisition have beenprocessed, although fewer than all the available measurements may bedetermined if sufficient measurement error reduction is achieved sooner.Generally, the measurement error approaches zero as the number of firstand second measurement values increases. Additional first and secondmeasurement values may be added from subsequent SUT acquisition(s), ifdesired, although the subsequent SUT acquisition(s) would occur afterdetermination of mean-squared value (MSV) in block S217 or afterdetermination of root-mean-squared (RMS) value in block S218, discussedbelow. The number of measurement value pairs to include is essentially atrade off between desired accuracy and length of measurement time.

The first and second measurement values may be paired into themeasurement value pairs based on corresponding time locations on theSUT. This may be accomplished through the synchronization of the firstADC 114 and the second ADC 124, or by triggering two independent timebases (not shown) using unique waveform features. Thus, the first andsecond measurement values in each measurement value pair may be measuredsubstantially simultaneously and/or are associated with the same time.That is, the measurement value pair is simultaneous to the extent thatthe respective first and second measurement values remain associatedwith one another. In block S216, the first measurement value and thesecond measurement value in each of the measurement value pairs aremultiplied together, thereby obtaining multiple measurement productscorresponding to the times associated with the measurement value pair.

In block S217, an average value of the measurement products isdetermined, thereby obtaining a mean-squared value (MSV) of themeasurement of the SUT characteristic. In particular, where A representsthe measurement error in the first channel, B represents the measurementerror in the second channel, and C represents variation in the SUTaffecting the measured characteristic, then the first measurement valuemay be indicated by A+C and the second measurement value may beindicated by B+C. It follows that the mean of the measurement productsof the respective measurement value pairs is E[(A+C)*(B+C)], which maybe written as E[A*B+A*C+B*C+C*C]. Here, E[X] is used to represent theexpected value of X (the average or mean of X). Assuming that A, B and Care uncorrelated from one another, ultimatelyE[A*B+A*C+B*C+C*C]=E[A*B]+E[A*C]+E[B*C]+E[C*C] andE[A*B]=E[A*C]=E[B*C]=0, as the first and second measurement values arerepeatedly determined, such that E[(A+C)*(B+C)]=E[C*C] given enoughaverages. Thus, the average value of the measurement products (where Nis the number of measurement products obtained) is E[C*C]=E[C²], or theMSV of C.

A square root of the MSV is determined in block S218 to obtain aroot-mean-squared (RMS) value of the SUT characteristic being measured.The RMS value of the SUT characteristic includes variations in the SUT,which are in both the first and second channels (correlated variations),and substantially omits variations not in the SUT, but which wereintroduced by only one of the first channel or the second channel(uncorrelated variations). The variations that would otherwise beintroduced by the first channel or the second channel correspond to themeasurement errors introduced by the first channel or the secondchannel, respectively. Therefore, block S218 provides a noise-reducedRMS value of the measured SUT characteristic, substantially removing theuncorrelated additive errors of the first and second channels.

In an embodiment, the method may further include amplifying the firstcopy of the SUT using a first amplifier in the first channel of thesignal measurement device prior to digitizing the first copy, andamplifying the second copy of the SUT using a second amplifier in thesecond channel of the signal measurement device prior to digitizing thesecond copy of the SUT. When the first and second copies of the SUT areamplified, respectively, the measurement error that is in only one ofthe first channel or the second channel includes noise introduced by thefirst and second amplifiers, respectively.

The SUT characteristic that may be measured includes different types oferror. For example, the first measurement values may be measures of timeerror or phase error of the first digitized waveforms, and the secondmeasurement values may be measures of time error or phase error of thesecond digitized waveforms. In this case, repeatedly determiningmeasurement values of the first digitized waveforms (time error or phaseerror) in block S214 may include performing edge finding on the firstdigitized waveforms, and repeatedly determining measurement values ofthe second digitized waveforms in block S215 may include performing edgefinding on the second digitized waveforms, for example. As used herein,edge finding includes locating the times of threshold crossings of adigitized waveform (e.g., each of the first and second digitizedwaveforms). Time error may be determined by the difference of thelocated edge times from the ideal or desired times of the edges, or timeerror may be the variation of time between adjacent edges.

Other examples of SUT characteristics that may be measured according tothe method of FIG. 2, while correcting for measurement error introducedby only the first channel or only the second channel, include phasenoise, jitter (e.g., time jitter, TIE jitter, random jitter,deterministic jitter, period-to-period jitter, total jitter), frequency,period, pulse width, rise time, voltage noise, and slew rate, asmentioned above.

FIG. 3 is a simplified flow diagram showing a method of testing a SUTusing a signal measurement device having multiple input channels,according to a representative embodiment. The testing may include, forexample, measuring a characteristic of the SUT output by a DUT whilesubstantially removing the measurement errors introduced by the multipleinput channels, respectively. The method shown in FIG. 3 generallyrelies on matching data trends from two copies of the SUT to form setsof measurement trend vectors.

Referring to FIG. 3, the method includes receiving the SUT output by theDUT at block S311, where the SUT may be an RF signal. In the depictedembodiment, two copies of the SUT are received via first and secondchannels of the signal measurement device as a first copy and a secondcopy, respectively. The SUT may be a single-ended RF signal or adifferential signal, so that the two copies may be provided as discussedabove. The first copy is received by a first input channel of one ormore test systems (e.g., test system 100, 100′), and the second copy isreceived by a second input channel of the one or more test systems. Forexample, the first and second input channels may be part of a singleoscilloscope. Or, the first input channel may be part of a firstoscilloscope and the second input channel may be part of a secondoscilloscope, where the first and second oscilloscopes are synchronizedwith one another.

The first copy of the SUT is digitized (e.g., by first ADC 114) in thefirst input channel at block S312 to obtain one or more first digitizedwaveforms, and the second copy of the SUT is digitized (e.g., by secondADC 124) in the second input channel at block S313 to obtain one or moresecond digitized waveforms. Digitizing the first and second copies ofthe SUT may be performed substantially simultaneously. A time base(e.g., time base 105) may be used to synchronize the timing of the firstand second digitized waveforms, and to track timing of the first andsecond digitized waveforms in order to track data and data trends of thefirst digitized waveform and corresponding data and data trends of thesecond digitized waveform. The digitizing in blocks S312 and S313 isperformed on the copies of the SUT without heterodyning.

The first and second digitized waveforms are processed (e.g., by DSP130). The processing includes repeatedly determining a first measurementtrend of the one or more first digital waveforms in block S314 to obtainmultiple first measurement trends, each first measurement trendcorresponding to multiple measurements of the SUT characteristic in theone or more first digitized waveforms, respectively. The processlikewise includes repeatedly determining a second measurement trend ofthe one or more second digital waveforms in block S315 to obtainmultiple second measurement trends, each second measurement trendcorresponding to multiple measurements of the SUT characteristic in theone or more second digitized waveforms, respectively. Each secondmeasurement trend is paired with a first measurement trend,respectively, to obtain multiple measurement trend pairs. The first andsecond measurement trends may be paired by alignment in time. Becausemultiple measurement trends and pairs of measurement trends may beoperated on, the paired measurement trends that are aligned in time needto be tracked. The first and second measurement trends in eachmeasurement trend pair may be measured substantially simultaneouslyand/or are associated with the same timeframe. That is, the measurementtrend pair is simultaneous to the extent that the respective first andsecond measurement trend values remain associated with one another.

The first measurement trend and the second measurement trend in each ofthe measurement trend pairs are cross-correlated in block S316 to obtaincorresponding cross-correlation vectors. Therefore, eachcross-correlation vector is determined from a measurement trend pairthat corresponds to the same time frame. For each value in across-correlation vector (which may be considered an output vector), thefirst and second measurement trends from the measurement trend pair(which may be considered input vectors) are multiplied together andsummed up using different time-skews (displacements) between them.

In block S317, the zero-displacement values are extracted from thecross-correlation vectors, respectively. Extracting thezero-displacement value from a cross-correlation vector includesidentifying the one output vector value that was computed using zeroskew between the two input vectors, and discarding the other outputvector values from the output vector. The zero-displacement values ofthe cross-correlation vectors are summed in block S318, and the sum ofthe zero-displacement values is divided by a total number of measurementproducts of the multiple cross-correlation vectors to obtain an averagevalue of the measurement products, where the average value correspondsto a MSV of the SUT characteristic being measured in block S319.

In an alternative embodiment, the MSV of each cross-correlation vectoris first determined. This may be done by summing the measurementproducts of the first and second measurement trends, and then dividingthe sum by the number of points (the size of the input vectors) in themeasurement trend pair. The MSVs of the cross-correlation vectors arecombined to obtain a total MSV of the SUT characteristic. Notably,though, the measurement trend pairs may include different numbers ofpoints for providing the measurement products. In this case, the numberof points summed in each measurement trend pair to calculate thecorresponding individual MSV needs to be determined, so that a weightedaverage may be used when combining the individual MSVs to obtain thetotal MSV.

A square root of the MSV is determined in block S320 to obtain a RMSvalue of the SUT characteristic being measured. The RMS value includesvariations in the SUT, which are in both the first and second channels,and substantially omits variations not in the SUT, but which wereintroduced by only one of the first channel or the second channel. Thevariations that would otherwise be introduced by the first channel orthe second channel correspond to the measurement error introduced by thefirst channel or the second channel, respectively. Therefore, block S320provides a noise-reduced RMS value of the measured SUT characteristic,substantially removing the additive errors of the first and secondchannels.

The SUT characteristic that may be measured includes different types oferror over a predetermined time period. For example, the firstmeasurement trends may be measures of time error or phase error of thefirst digitized waveforms over the predetermined time period, and thesecond measurement trends may be measures of time error or phase errorof the second digitized waveforms over the predetermined time period. Inthis case, repeatedly determining measurement trends of the SUTcharacteristic in the first digitized waveforms (time error or phaseerror) in block S314 may include performing edge finding on the firstdigitized waveforms, and repeatedly determining measurement trends ofthe second digitized waveforms in block S315 may include performing edgefinding on the second digitized waveforms, for example, as discussedabove.

FIG. 4 is a simplified flow diagram showing a method of testing a SUTusing a signal measurement device having multiple input channels,according to a representative embodiment. The testing may include, forexample, measuring a characteristic of the SUT output by a DUT whilesubstantially removing the measurement errors introduced by the multipleinput channels, respectively. As in FIG. 3, the method shown in FIG. 4generally relies on matching data trends from two copies of the SUT toform sets of measurement trend vectors. Unlike the method shown in FIG.3, however, the processing of the measurement trends shown in FIG. 4 isperformed in the frequency domain.

Referring to FIG. 4, the method includes receiving the SUT output by theDUT at block S411, where the SUT may be an RF signal. In the depictedembodiment, two copies of the SUT are received via first and secondchannels of the signal measurement device as a first copy and a secondcopy, respectively. The SUT may be a single-ended RF signal or adifferential signal, so that the two copies may be provided as discussedabove. The first copy is received by a first input channel of one ormore test systems (e.g., test system 100, 100′), and the second copy isreceived by a second input channel of the one or more test systems. Forexample, the first and second input channels may be part of a singleoscilloscope. Or, the first input channel may be part of a firstoscilloscope and the second input channel may be part of a secondoscilloscope, where the first and second oscilloscopes are synchronizedwith one another.

The first copy of the SUT is digitized (e.g., by first ADC 114) in thefirst input channel at block S412 to obtain one or more first digitizedwaveforms, and the second copy of the SUT is digitized (e.g., by secondADC 124) in the second input channel at block S413 to obtain one or moresecond digitized waveforms. Digitizing the first and second copies ofthe SUT may be performed substantially simultaneously. A time base(e.g., time base 105) may be used to track timing of the first andsecond digitized waveforms in order to track data and data trends of thefirst digitized waveform and corresponding data and data trends of thesecond digitized waveform. The digitizing in blocks S412 and S413 isperformed on the copies of the SUT without heterodyning.

The first and second digitized waveforms are processed (e.g., by DSP130). The processing includes repeatedly determining a first measurementtrend of the one or more first digital waveforms in block S414 to obtainmultiple first measurement trends, each first measurement trendcorresponding to multiple measurements of the SUT characteristic in theone or more first digitized waveforms, respectively. The processlikewise includes repeatedly determining a second measurement trend ofthe one or more second digital waveforms in block S415 to obtainmultiple second measurement trends, each second measurement trendcorresponding to multiple measurements of the SUT characteristic in theone or more second digitized waveforms, respectively. Each secondmeasurement trend is paired with a first measurement trend,respectively, to obtain multiple measurement trend pairs. The first andsecond measurement trends may be paired by alignment in time. Becausemultiple measurement trends and pairs of measurement trends may beoperated on, the paired measurement trends that are aligned in time needto be tracked. The first and second measurement trends in eachmeasurement trend pair may be measured substantially simultaneouslyand/or are associated with the same timeframe. That is, the measurementtrend pair is simultaneous to the extent that the respective first andsecond measurement trend values remain associated with one another.Determining the first measurement treads of the SUT characteristic inthe first digitized waveforms may include performing edge finding on thefirst digitized waveforms, and determining the second measurement valuesof the SUT characteristic in the second digitized waveforms may includeperforming edge finding on the second digitized waveforms, as discussedabove.

A discrete Fourier transform (DFT) is performed on the first measurementtrend and the second measurement trend in each of the measurement trendpairs in block S416 to obtain corresponding first and second measurementamplitude spectrums for each of the measurement trend pairs. The firstand second measurement amplitude spectrums are in the frequency domain.In block S417, the first measurement amplitude spectrum and the secondmeasurement amplitude spectrum in each of the measurement trend pairsare cross-correlated to obtain corresponding multiple measurement powerspectrums.

The measurement power spectrums are averaged together in block S418 toobtain an average measurement power spectrum of the SUT. The averagemeasurement power spectrum of the SUT is that found in both the firstand second channels, and substantially omits measurement errorintroduced by only one of the first channel or the second channel. Inother words, block S418 provides a noise-reduced measurement powerspectrum of the SUT characteristic being measured.

In an embodiment, the method may further include deriving an averageamplitude spectrum of the SUT based on the average measurement powerspectrum. The average amplitude spectrum may be preferable to theaverage measurement power spectrum under certain circumstances, e.g.,when computing amplitude of spurious errors, or in accordance with userpreference. Also, single-sideband phase noise of the SUT may be derivedbased on the average measurement power spectrum.

One of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that many variations thatare in accordance with the present teachings are possible and remainwithin the scope of the appended claims. These and other variationswould become clear to one of ordinary skill in the art after inspectionof the specification, drawings and claims herein. The inventiontherefore is not to be restricted except within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims.

What is claimed:
 1. A method of measuring a characteristic of a signalunder test (SUT) output by a device under test (DUT) using a signalmeasurement device having a plurality of input channels, the methodcomprising: receiving the SUT; digitizing a first copy of the SUT in afirst input channel of the plurality of input channels to obtain one ormore first digitized waveforms; digitizing a second copy of the SUT in asecond input channel of the plurality of input channels to obtain one ormore second digitized waveforms; repeatedly determining measurementvalues of the SUT characteristic in the first digitized waveforms toobtain a plurality of first measurement values; repeatedly determiningsecond measurement values of the SUT characteristic in the seconddigitized waveforms to obtain a plurality of second measurement values,each second measurement value being paired with a first measurementvalue, respectively, to obtain a plurality of measurement value pairs;multiplying the first measurement value and the second measurement valuein each of the measurement value pairs to obtain a plurality ofmeasurement products; determining an average value of the measurementproducts to obtain a mean-squared value (MSV) of the measured SUTcharacteristic; and determining a square root of the MSV to obtain aroot-mean-squared (RMS) value of the measured SUT characteristic,wherein the RMS value of the measured SUT characteristic includesvariations in the SUT that are in both the first and second inputchannels, and substantially omits variations not in the SUT, which areintroduced by only one of the first input channel or the second inputchannel as a result of respective measurement errors.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first measurement values comprise time error orphase error of the first digitized waveforms, and the second measurementvalues comprise time error or phase error of the second digitizedwaveforms.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein calculating the time erroror the phase error of the first digitized waveforms comprises locatingedge times of threshold crossings of each of the first digitizedwaveforms, and calculating the time error or the phase error of thesecond digitized waveforms comprises locating edge times of thresholdcrossings of each of the second digitized waveforms; and computing thedifference between the located edge times of the first and secondwaveforms and ideal edge times of the first and second waveforms,respectively.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the SUT is adifferential signal, and the first and second copies of the SUT,respectively digitized in the first and second channels, correspond toinverted and non-inverted sides of the differential signal.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the SUT is a single-ended signal, the methodfurther comprising: splitting the SUT into the first and second copiesof the SUT, respectively digitized in the first and second channels. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the first copy of the SUT is received viaa first probe connected to the first channel, and the second copy of theSUT is received via a second probe connected to the second channel, andwherein the variations that are introduced by only one of the firstinput channel or the second input channel includes variations introducedby the first and second probes, respectively.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein each measurement pair comprises first and second measurementvalues corresponding to substantially the same time.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: amplifying the first copy of the SUT usinga first amplifier in the first channel of the signal measurement deviceprior to digitizing the first copy; and amplifying the second copy ofthe SUT using a second amplifier in the second channel of the signalmeasurement device prior to digitizing the second copy, wherein thevariations that are introduced by only one of the first input channel orthe second input channel includes variations introduced by the first andsecond amplifiers, respectively.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein whenthe measured characteristic is jitter, the measured SUT characteristiccomprises the variations in the SUT.
 10. A method of measuring acharacteristic of a signal under test (SUT) output by a device undertest (DUT) using a signal measurement device having a plurality of inputchannels, the method comprising: receiving the SUT; digitizing a firstcopy of the SUT in a first input channel of the plurality of inputchannels to obtain one or more first digitized waveforms; digitizing asecond copy of the SUT in a second input channel of the plurality ofinput channels to obtain one or more second digitized waveforms;repeatedly determining a first measurement trend to obtain a pluralityof first measurement trends, each first measurement trend correspondingto measurements of the SUT characteristic in the one or more firstdigitized waveforms, respectively; repeatedly determining a secondmeasurement trend to obtain a plurality of second measurement trends,each second measurement trend corresponding to measurements of the SUTcharacteristic in the one or more second digitized waveforms,respectively, each second measurement trend being paired with a firstmeasurement trend, respectively, to obtain a plurality of measurementtrend pairs; cross-correlating the first measurement trend and thesecond measurement trend in each of the measurement trend pairs toobtain a plurality of cross-correlation vectors; extracting a pluralityof zero-displacement values from the plurality of cross-correlationvectors, respectively, wherein extracting the zero-displacement valuescomprises identifying a value from each cross-correlation vector thatwas obtained using zero skew between the first measurement trend and thesecond measurement trend in the measurement trend pair, and discardingall other values from other cross-correlation vectors; summing thezero-displacement values of the plurality of cross-correlation vectorsto obtain a sum of measurement products for the plurality measurementtrend pairs; dividing the sum of zero-displacement values by a totalnumber of measurement products of the plurality of cross-correlationvectors to obtain an average value of the measurement products, whichcorresponds to a mean-squared value (MSV) of the measured SUTcharacteristic; and determining a square root of the average value ofthe MSV to obtain a root-mean-squared (RMS) value of the measured SUTcharacteristic, wherein the RMS value includes variations in the SUT,which are in both the first and second channels, and substantially omitsun-correlated variations not in the SUT, which are introduced by onlyone of the first channel or the second channel.
 11. The method of claim10, wherein determining the first measurement trends comprisesdetermining time error trends or phase error trends of the firstdigitized waveforms, and determining the second measurement trendscomprises determining time error trends or phase error trends of thesecond copies of the SUT.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the SUT isa differential signal, and the first and second copies of the SUT,respectively digitized in the first and second channels, correspond toinverted and non-inverted sides of the differential signal,respectively.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the SUT is asingle-ended signal, the method further comprising: splitting the SUTinto the first and second copies of the SUT, respectively digitized inthe first and second channels.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein thefirst copy of the SUT is received via a first probe connected to thefirst channel, and the second copy of the SUT is received via a secondprobe connected to the second channel, and wherein the un-correlatedvariations that are introduced by only one of the first channel or thesecond channel includes noise introduced by the first and second probes,respectively.
 15. The method of claim 10, further comprising: amplifyingthe first copy of the SUT using a first amplifier in the first channelof the signal measurement device prior to digitizing the first copy; andamplifying the second copy of the SUT using a second amplifier in thesecond channel of the signal measurement device prior to digitizing thesecond copy, wherein the un-correlated variations that are introduced byonly one of the first channel or the second channel includes variationsintroduced by the first and second amplifiers, respectively.
 16. Themethod of claim 11, wherein calculating the time error trend or thephase error trend of the first digitized waveforms comprises locatingedge times of threshold crossings of each of the first digitizedwaveforms, and calculating the time error trend or the phase error trendof the second digitized waveforms comprises locating edge times ofthreshold crossings of each of the second digitized waveforms; andcomputing the difference between the located edge times of the first andsecond waveforms and ideal edge times of the first and second waveforms,respectively.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein each measurement trendpair comprises first and second measurement trends corresponding tosubstantially the same timeframe.
 18. A method of measuring acharacteristic of a signal under test (SUT) output by a device undertest (DUT) using a signal measurement device having a plurality of inputchannels, the method comprising: receiving the SUT; digitizing a firstcopy of the SUT in a first input channel of the plurality of inputchannels to obtain one or more first digitized waveforms; digitizing asecond copy of the SUT in a second input channel of the plurality ofinput channels to obtain one or more second digitized waveforms;repeatedly determining a first measurement trend to obtain a pluralityof first measurement trends, each first measurement trend correspondingto measurements of the SUT characteristic in each first digitizedwaveform, respectively; repeatedly determining a second measurementtrend to obtain a plurality of second measurement trends, each secondmeasurement trend corresponding to measurements of the SUTcharacteristic in each second digitized waveform, respectively, eachsecond measurement trend being paired with a first measurement trend,respectively, to obtain a plurality of measurement trend pairs;performing a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) on the first measurementtrend and the second measurement trend in each of the measurement trendpairs to obtain corresponding first and second measurement amplitudespectrums for each of the plurality of measurement trend pairs;cross-correlating the first measurement amplitude spectrum and thesecond measurement amplitude spectrum in each of the measurement trendpairs to obtain a plurality measurement power spectrums; and averagingthe measurement power spectrums to obtain an average measurement powerspectrum of the SUT, which is in both the first and second channels, andsubstantially omitting measurement errors not in the SUT, which areintroduced by only one of the first channel or the second channel. 19.The method of claim 18, further comprising deriving an average amplitudespectrum of the SUT based on the average measurement power spectrum. 20.The method of claim 18, further comprising deriving single-sidebandphase noise of the SUT based on the average measurement power spectrum.